Traditionally, high performance networks, such as broadband networks, were available only in fixed locations with access to substantial infrastructure, with the technical and financial resources available to provide the specialized hardware resources necessary to enable high bandwidth. Later, high performance networks became available in residential environments. More recently, high performance networks are becoming available for mobile platforms, including cell phones, and within transportation devices, such as automobiles, trains, and airplanes. As a result, these high performance networks have become essential to many aspects of daily life.
As high performance networking capabilities have been made available to mobile platforms, managing network performance and user satisfaction for these networks has increased in complexity. Therefore, improved methods of characterizing the performance of network communications services provided to mobile platforms are needed.